Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Thomas Söllner Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH)
Im Neuenheimer Feld 345, 69120 Heidelberg
Tel (06221) 54-5340, Fax: (06221) 54-5341
e-mail: thomas.soellner@bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
The Sonderforschungsbereich / Transregio (Collaborative Research Center) 83 is a joint project of the Universities of Heidelberg, Dresden and Bonn, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, and the Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation), and will start its synergistic research activities on January 1st 2010.
At the center stage of the research will be lipid/protein assemblies, which form microdomains within biological membranes and fulfill a growing array of physiological functions such as intracellular and cell to cell signaling, membrane trafficking, protein processing, virus assembly and infectivity and compartmental morphology. The overall goals are to: i) elucidate the molecular composition of distinct lipid/protein assemblies, ii) determine the biophysical forces and structural mechanisms that keep these assemblies together, and to iii) study the dynamic interactions at high spatial and temporal resolution in reconstituted systems and living cells. To address these complex topics, the SFB/TRR 83 will employ advanced technologies, such as quantitative lipid mass spectrometry, fluorescence-cross-correlation spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, single molecule force spectroscopy, RNAi screening, and click chemistry. Thus, a unique combination of selected membrane model systems and technology platforms shall provide novel and profound molecular insights into the structural and functional nature, specificity, and biology of lipid-protein interactions.
